"Crackle—crackle—"
Suddenly, the lights blazed brightly. Brainiac's call came through the phone. The next second, a corpse fell from the sky. With a "bang," the police burst through the door, only to see Shiller standing there, and a little girl lying in a pool of blood in front of him.
Shiller squinted slightly, not making any moves until he saw the little girl's fingers twitch slightly.
He suddenly lifted his eyes, ignoring the police surrounding him, and quickly walked over to the little girl. After feeling a weak pulse on her neck, he stood up and turned his head: "She's still alive, call an ambulance... quick!"
Minutes later, Shiller sat in the front passenger seat of a police car, draped in an emergency blanket. Gordon handed him a cup of hot coffee. Shiller seemed a bit distant. After hesitating for quite a while, Gordon finally asked, "Are you alright?"
Shiller shook his head. Gordon circled around to the driver's seat, paused slightly after sitting down, and spoke: "I don't think you're the kind of person who would harm children. Even if she tried to kill you, you'd probably just dodge. I'll first assume someone is trying to frame you, but how come the person isn't dead?"
"It's a bit complicated." After a long pause, Shiller finally spoke, "I admit Hugo still has some skill."
"What on earth happened?"
"You're the police, your job is to find the culprit, not to question me, the kidnapped victim."
"Kidnapped?!"
"That 'Moriarty' first hunted me down, then sent threatening emails demanding I go to a designated location, even blocked Brainiac, and attacked me with his Illusion Device. If that's not kidnapping, what is it?"
Gordon looked speechless.
In the meeting room of Gotham Police Department, Victor hurriedly pushed open the door and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Shiller. He said, "I knew you wouldn't be up to any good if you shook me off alone. Going to Hugo's appointment on your own, do you really think you're Holmes?!"
"Too bad I didn't hold him and jump off a cliff, otherwise your novel would be permanently barred from publication for plagiarism." Shiller looked at him and said.
"You don't look so good." Victor walked over to pour him some coffee. Shiller waved his hand to indicate he didn't want any. So Victor returned to sit down, seating himself opposite Shiller.
"So, tell me, what actually happened?" Victor asked, "I know you didn't tell Gordon the truth, after all, he's the police."
"I just didn't tell the whole story." Shiller said, "This involves old affairs, there's not much to say about it. Let's leave it at that."
Victor squinted suspiciously. He looked Shiller up and down, and then said: "If you really wanted to lie, none of us could tell. Or are you not finished making it up yet? That doesn't fit your capabilities."
"I have no intention to deceive you all, I just don't want to say anything. Everyone has things they don't want to say."
Victor put on a fake smile. He directly took out the Freeze Gun and froze the entire room, then said, "I guarantee the matters here won't get out. Brainiac won't even be able to eavesdrop..."
"It has nothing to do with this..."
"What I mean is, if I freeze you half to death now, no one can save you, not even Brainiac."
Shiller looked at him, somewhat helpless. Victor slowly turned the barrel of the gun towards him and said: "Having known you for so many years, I long understood one truth: if a mental patient tells you he doesn't want to do something, what you should do isn't try to understand him, but rather hold him down and make him take his meds."
"But we're friends." Shiller argued, "And I'm very sure I'm not having an episode right now. I..."
"Bang!"
"Crack," the ice in the room thawed. Gordon pushed open the door and froze momentarily upon seeing Victor standing in front of Shiller's ice sculpture.
Victor blocked Gordon's line of sight and then said, "Do you know how unpleasant he sounds when he talks in a bad mental state? I can barely stand him."
Gordon immediately showed a look of understanding, then said, "I have something I want to ask him too, can you possibly first..."
"Have you been having too good of a time lately?" Victor couldn't help but ask, "Do you have to be scolded by him to feel comfortable?"
"Alright." Gordon sighed and said, "I'm afraid I can't stand it either. Go take him back first, when he's back to normal, I will ask him again."
Then he left, having completely missed Shiller inside the ice sculpture behind Victor, silently mouthing for help. Victor spread his hands and said, "Your Mr. Freeze is here, buddy. It's not for nothing that I practiced my gun skills."
When the police placed Shiller's ice sculpture in the Cryogenic Lab, Nora pursed her lips and then said, "Watson never froze Holmes, you should know that, right?"
"I certainly know." Victor nodded, took off his coat, then said, "But I believe it's just that he didn't have the technology. If he could really prevent Holmes from taking risks, he would have done it."
"Alright, it seems you two have something to talk about." Nora said as she walked to the door, thoughtfully closing it behind her.
"Have you found that even Gray Mist can't get out?" Victor took off his suit jacket too and placed it over a nearby chair back.
"Gray Mist can get out." Shiller mouthed, "Be careful or I'll let him out to beat you up."
"Apparently he agrees that what I'm doing is right." Victor sat in the chair, placing one leg over the other, with both hands on his knees staring at Shiller, "Tell me, what kind of madness are you up to again?"
The dense ice layer showed a bit of change, enabling Shiller to speak. He said, "Mr. Freeze, if in your book, you write an assistant freezing the detective and forcibly taking him from the police station, you would surely get countless bad reviews."
"As long as I keep you frozen, the content of the book is up to me. I can choose not to record this part." Victor picked up a paper and pen beside him, writing while speaking aloud.
"I noticed Rodriguez seemed troubled. I understood he was not as indifferent as he appeared, often worrying about many things, but this was the first time it was so plainly shown on his face. Clearly, these cases were unexpectedly tricky for him. As his assistant, there was little I could do. Since reasoning was of no help and there were no clues for how to proceed with the investigation, I could only pour him a cup of hot tea.
'Thank you, Fries.' Even amid anxiety, the detective still maintained basic politeness. Even as he paced impatiently around the room, he didn't let the heels of his shoes collide too loudly. These were all manifestations of his gentlemanly demeanor. I deeply regretted that I couldn't be of help.
Just as I was falling into self-doubt, wondering if I was dragging him down, 'Sit and have a cup of tea, Mr. Fries, I'd be glad to hear your thoughts.' Rodriguez pointed to the seat across from him. I could tell he was comforting me.
I was further reassured, knowing that only those unfamiliar with him would think he was an arrogant weirdo. Those who knew him understood that his care for those close to him always showed unintentionally. My guilt and anxiety were significantly soothed by his tenderness. It's time to discuss the case."